Wheels Thread

[sadnocomply]

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does bigger contact patch = less slide? trying to find out if i want 53, 54, or 56 conical full 101 spits next

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Yes, but the bigger the patch the more “controllable the slide” less contact would be easier to get into slide. I’m sure it’s all subjective. I have way better slide on 54 conical than I do 53 conical full and it’s like a 1.5 mm difference in contact patch.

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are you riding 99 or 101a? in my mind im thinking that 101a will be less grippy anyways so the wider contact patch would help control it, but thats just an assumption

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Ah shit I hope this doesn't re-ignite that contact patch / friction debate again.

Haha I hope it does. Love nerding out about wheels and trucks. Decks are meh I know what I like in that department.

[moonordie]

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does bigger contact patch = less slide? trying to find out if i want 53, 54, or 56 conical full 101 spits next

[close]

Yes, but the bigger the patch the more “controllable the slide” less contact would be easier to get into slide. I’m sure it’s all subjective. I have way better slide on 54 conical than I do 53 conical full and it’s like a 1.5 mm difference in contact patch.

This. Is harder to get into the slide but once you get there the feeling is better.
Everytime I had 101 I hated them and myself for betraying 99.

[Sativa Lung]

Anybody tried jivaro wheels I usually skate 99a but  I just want to know if they are slippery at 101A

I've got a pair of 53mm 101a Jivaro conicals. They're good wheels, I don't know what you consider "slippery" but I had no issues with them and they're probably the 101 I skate most often. I skate almost exclusively on shitty asphalt though, so I don't know how they'd fare in on indoor park style surface but I would think they'd be fine after wearing the grooves down a bit. If you've ever skated spitfire OG classic 99 they feel similar but a little harder to me.

They use mpc/creative urethane so if you don't care about looks TGM has some 54mm 99a conicals made by the same place for $12 with free shipping. I have a set of those and the 97a black and white ones (orbs blanks, probably seconds or overrun) and both are very good albeit a bit goofy looking.

https://tgmskateboards.com/skateboard-wheels-set-54mm-x-33mm-99a-pink-white-swirl/

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

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I’ve been eyeing some Loophole. Seeing those pics just make me want to give them a shot even more.

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If you do and/or anyone else who has ridden Loophole or NFG could offer their thoughts on how they compare to other similar wheels you’ve ridden, I’d appreciate it. Lurking on slap has intensified my gear acquisition hunger over the last few months and I figure I might as well start planning out my next two or fifteen sets of wheels.

yo I did a review a few pages back, search back through my post history should be pretty easy to find

edit: did the homework for ya

okay so I promised this one a while back but shit has been busy since being back at work after the break.
disclaimer: I usually ride nothing but spitfire F4 99 classic and radial slims in size 54mm - I'm old and stuck in my ways and don't want to change but, as I mentioned a few pages back, I wanted to set up a EE3 era inspired board that had some big chunky wheels that were reminiscent of what those guys were riding back then, I was thinking I wanted something like physics wheels and ended up getting these 56mm conical loopholes:

said set-up looks/ looked like this:



initial impressions: as you've probably seen from pics, these wheels are NOT white and look quite old from the get-go. I usually skate F4s so this isn't a problem per se but they are more yellow than brand new F4s. I also noticed little air bubbles/ imperfections in the finishing which kinda reminded me of 90s wheels too!

first skate: I set them up ready to break them in over xmas/ new year because I knew I had enough time off to get a good 7 - 10 session in. The first roll I had on them was in front of my house on the rough road with my son. Hard to judge from this session but they felt nice and fast (probably because I ride 54mm usually) and it was good to see they had no tread on them, just like my beloved F4s. also, the get DIRTY! maybe it's the bigger riding surface but they seemed so fucking grimy after each of my skates...

Second session: Off to my local DIY. The ground there is concrete but still smooth enough to get good power slides on. I do quite a lot of frontside power slides and little switch front 360 ones and straight off the bat I could tell they are down to slide and were quire responsive/ similar to F4s. These ones are listed as 101s (or 84b or some shit) and I could tell they were a tad more slippery than regular F4 99s especially when skating another local spot that has granite tiles on the ground.

third and forth sessions: not gunna lie, I had a lot of fun on this setup and it was the exact look/ feel I was looking for. I did skate a lot over the break and while I'm hardly progressing these days I felt that there wasn't something right about all the skates I had, I was still landing stuff but some tricks were a pain and I was having particular problems with long board slide/ lip slide type tricks on the local ledge. Of course I blame the wheels because I never had this problem with my F4s. The other issue was pop, I was ghosting a lot on tricks I don't usually ghost on. sure, it's a new set-up and it's only 2mm difference but it was getting me down, my board felt heavier too (probably 99% mental). how can 2mm fuck me up this much???

few more sessions in front of my house in the cold: what the fuck is wrong with my pop? I'm skating nearly every day and I'm missing simple shit, even just straight nollies are dribbling along the ground. I get fed up with this shit, run in the house and grab and old pair of F4 classic 54mm (probably 52mm at this point) and start changing them over. In my head I don't want to do it, but the kick on this deck is quite short and I NEED to check if it's the wheels or if I just suck at skating. I think the spitties are going to be a lot slower but was surprised to find that there was hardly any difference. I chalk this up to 99 vs 101 issue; the loopholes were harder and thus not as good when riding on rough surfaces. After 5 or so minutes I get my old (man) pop back, my board instantly feels lighter and even though I don't have the "look" I was going for my set-up just feels right.

next session at my local: had a much better session than the last 3 or 4. Lipslide/ long board slide tricks on the ledge still don't work but it was a wax issue, not a wheel issue.

closing thoughts: they aren't terrible wheels, far from it. The color is going to turn a lot of people off, but function wise I liked them a lot, and their slide felt natural and intuitive. The site I bought them off said they were a tad softer than F4 99s. I don't agree with that but I don't think they are on the harder side of 101s either (ala prize fighter cutlery which absolutely rattled my teeth). So yeah, slide better than 99 F4s but I never skate F4 101s so can't compare. I'm thinking of giving them another shot; either on a board with a bigger tail, or back on the northern co. until I can dial the pop in. In hindsight I probably should have just gotten 54mm because a) I never skate bigger than that anyway and b) I don't usually skate conical wheels.

If I end up not doing anything with them, I'm happy to unload them to a fellow pal if they want pay shipping from Japan. Will let you all know... hope this review is somewhat helpful for someone out there!

[ClownOfTheDay]

I can see why some of you don't like colored urethane. My black Spitfires F4's are all crunchy and chipped, and flat spotted, I don't know if this is normal for colored urethane but I've never had this happen before with Spitfires. I've only been skating these wheels for about a week.

[spacial_profiling]

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does bigger contact patch = less slide? trying to find out if i want 53, 54, or 56 conical full 101 spits next

[close]

Yes, but the bigger the patch the more “controllable the slide” less contact would be easier to get into slide. I’m sure it’s all subjective. I have way better slide on 54 conical than I do 53 conical full and it’s like a 1.5 mm difference in contact patch.

[close]

are you riding 99 or 101a? in my mind im thinking that 101a will be less grippy anyways so the wider contact patch would help control it, but thats just an assumption

[close]

Ah shit I hope this doesn't re-ignite that contact patch / friction debate again.

I slide better on wider patch personally.

[Xen]

I can see why some of you don't like colored urethane. My black Spitfires F4's are all crunchy and chipped, and flat spotted, I don't know if this is normal for colored urethane but I've never had this happen before with Spitfires. I've only been skating these wheels for about a week.

Oddly the older STFs that came in colors felt WAAAAY better than the stock vanilla color of old. They always felt better to me, especially the yellow.

[ClownOfTheDay]

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I can see why some of you don't like colored urethane. My black Spitfires F4's are all crunchy and chipped, and flat spotted, I don't know if this is normal for colored urethane but I've never had this happen before with Spitfires. I've only been skating these wheels for about a week.

[close]

Oddly the older STFs that came in colors felt WAAAAY better than the stock vanilla color of old. They always felt better to me, especially the yellow.

I wonder if it's the dye that changes the urethane. These spitfires feel so different. I want to try bones but I am such a DLX loyalist.

[Xen]

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I can see why some of you don't like colored urethane. My black Spitfires F4's are all crunchy and chipped, and flat spotted, I don't know if this is normal for colored urethane but I've never had this happen before with Spitfires. I've only been skating these wheels for about a week.

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Oddly the older STFs that came in colors felt WAAAAY better than the stock vanilla color of old. They always felt better to me, especially the yellow.

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I wonder if it's the dye that changes the urethane. These spitfires feel so different. I want to try bones but I am such a DLX loyalist.

Not sure I mean, they have to add color to get it the color we skate or it would be filthy brown(?).

[tyshoes]

Not sure I mean, they have to add color to get it the color we skate or it would be filthy brown(?).

100%

The bright white the bones wheels come in is a color too.

I found these 20 year old Accel wheels. Was Mike V's wheels co that went under. Surprisingly great shape and slide. I def prefer to the easy streets I was using.  Conical shape and natural. Pretty cool find with some 25 yr old venture v lights low

[Saint Coke]

So where I live the ground is really rough and 53's aren't cutting it. Should I skate a 54 - 60mm wheel just so my wheels don't get stuck in the cracks? I don't like the feeling of softer wheels (anything under 99) Would any of you recommend skating street with big wheels?

[tyshoes]

So where I live the ground is really rough and 53's aren't cutting it. Should I skate a 54 - 60mm wheel just so my wheels don't get stuck in the cracks? I don't like the feeling of softer wheels (anything under 99) Would any of you recommend skating street with big wheels?

I max out at 54mm maybe 55 for street personally but Ive seen some do 56mm. Have you tried the mini slimeballs? 97a but feels very much like 99 and has a wide contact patch which would be good smooth things out a bit.

[yourbreakfsat]

So where I live the ground is really rough and 53's aren't cutting it. Should I skate a 54 - 60mm wheel just so my wheels don't get stuck in the cracks? I don't like the feeling of softer wheels (anything under 99) Would any of you recommend skating street with big wheels?

That's comes to personal preference. One if my friends skates 60mm wheels on a 8" deck. It works for him, but it's something I personally wouldn't recommend.

I'd say give Bones STF Easy Streets 54-56mm a try. They handle rough streets pretty well.

[Seadramon]

Just got a set of F4 Lock ins in the mail and one wheel has a bubble. Very similar to those garage wheels.

Should I make a fuss? 

[50mm]

Just got a set of F4 Lock ins in the mail and one wheel has a bubble. Very similar to those garage wheels.

Should I make a fuss? 

post a pic

[Saint Coke]

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So where I live the ground is really rough and 53's aren't cutting it. Should I skate a 54 - 60mm wheel just so my wheels don't get stuck in the cracks? I don't like the feeling of softer wheels (anything under 99) Would any of you recommend skating street with big wheels?

[close]

I max out at 54mm maybe 55 for street personally but Ive seen some do 56mm. Have you tried the mini slimeballs? 97a but feels very much like 99 and has a wide contact patch which would be good smooth things out a bit.

I have my eye on some OJ hosoi rockets.

[Sundaynuggets]

So where I live the ground is really rough and 53's aren't cutting it. Should I skate a 54 - 60mm wheel just so my wheels don't get stuck in the cracks? I don't like the feeling of softer wheels (anything under 99) Would any of you recommend skating street with big wheels?

I go back and forth between 52mm and 61mm wheels (usually 99a) on street and I’ve found that for sure, the bigger wheels handle cracks and medium crusty ground better than the smaller wheels. They go faster and you sit a little higher, which makes things pop a little different.

Weight wise, for what I can do (uncomplicated ledge tricks, basic flip tricks, some wall ride variations and mostly ollieing over shit) the wheels size makes little difference. When it does seem to make a difference, a day or two later (or after watching some Matt reason footage) it doesn’t seem to make a difference at all, which makes me think it’s mostly mental.

Wheel shape seems to have more of an influence on what I can do and how skating feels. Conical full style wheels in any size seem to be my most comfortable shape. For bigger wheels, 58mm F4 conical fulls and 60mm Spitfire Og classics have been my favorites and hold up to street skating well.

[moonordie]

I have my eyes on some Pig wheels, C-Line 54mm. Pig will always have a soft and warm place in my heart since they were my first real skateboard wheels.

[Saint Coke]

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So where I live the ground is really rough and 53's aren't cutting it. Should I skate a 54 - 60mm wheel just so my wheels don't get stuck in the cracks? I don't like the feeling of softer wheels (anything under 99) Would any of you recommend skating street with big wheels?

[close]

I go back and forth between 52mm and 61mm wheels (usually 99a) on street and I’ve found that for sure, the bigger wheels handle cracks and medium crusty ground better than the smaller wheels. They go faster and you sit a little higher, which makes things pop a little different.

Weight wise, for what I can do (uncomplicated ledge tricks, basic flip tricks, some wall ride variations and mostly ollieing over shit) the wheels size makes little difference. When it does seem to make a difference, a day or two later (or after watching some Matt reason footage) it doesn’t seem to make a difference at all, which makes me think it’s mostly mental.

Wheel shape seems to have more of an influence on what I can do and how skating feels. Conical full style wheels in any size seem to be my most comfortable shape. For bigger wheels, 58mm F4 conical fulls and 60mm Spitfire Og classics have been my favorites and hold up to street skating well.

Ok I'll take your word on 58's - 60's. Gonna stick with spitfire unless I do an 80's hosoi board.

[jay_nev]

I’ve been feeling like my F4 54mm conicals 99a with a 20.2 riding surface are slow on rougher pavement streets. Will 58-60mm make that big of a difference? Or conical full versus conical? Ie going up to, say, 25 riding surface on the 56mm conical full?

[ItsNoUse]

I have my eyes on some Pig wheels, C-Line 54mm. Pig will always have a soft and warm place in my heart since they were my first real skateboard wheels.

I really wanna hear about their new formula, "Pig prime" - It looks good but I haven't seen anyone say anything about them yet. If they made the prime urethane in a conical or c-line, I'd hop on them. I like their team.

[mynameisnotjeff]

Anyone skate OJ Elites? If so how are they compared to STF or F4?

[hillbilly shifty]

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my smooth streets + skatepark wheel is spitfire F4 classic 99a, and has been for years.
been hunting for a wheel that can handle crustier spots, but also not be too soft for the park.
mini logo 90a are almost too bouncy/grippy, to me they're not too different in feel than spitfire chargers 80a
the keyframe 87a are nice on rough spots, but still a bit too soft for the park.
currently on a set of ricta clouds 92a, these are getting me close to a great multi use wheel....
but.... i just got a set of the new mini logo 95a in the 52mm 'a cut' shape. and they are WHITE.
will report back after putting them thru some various scenarios.
fyi.... all wheels i ride, regardless of duro, are 52mm to 54mm.

[close]

95a.. that sounds tempting. please check back in later and tell us how they perform with noseslides and stuff

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took these out a few times over the weekend. these are great on streets around the neighborhood. the roads + sidewalks are not too rough, but def not skatepark smooth. these 95s had enough softness to get around with ease but still slide, pop, flip, and feel and perform close to a 99a.

took them to the park and they were more grippy than 99s of course, but not too bad overall. had to make sure not to over rotate ollies and such on the quarterpipes + hips or i would stick. noseslides not a problem, i'm on indys, so may be a diff story on thunders.

they have treads as new, but think after they break in a bit more will get better slides, and they could make a great ATV wheel. will post pics after some more sessions.

[close]

sounds good, how's the white color? is it fake-plastic-y looking and is that going away with wear? interested in the 87 keyframe 92 cloud 95 mini logo differences

been pretty cold in the nyc area lately, but got a few rolls in. starting to break these in, feeling great around the neighborhood. still pretty white, but not fake plasticy looking or feeling. they're on an antihero 8.06 w/ indy stage VII, going to take off the 1/8" rubber riser since i had 54mm wheels on this prior.

as far as a true atv wheel, as others have said, not sure it exists. based on my initial feedback above from running these 95a at the park, will def stick with F4 99a classics for smooth parks. i guess this just means i have to run 2 set ups.... park board + street board. both set ups will have same deck width/length/WB specs, both w/ indys + bones bushings + bearings, only diff will be wheel duro. going to swap out the minilogo 95a to the ricta cloud 92a to see if i like those better for neighborhood streets + crusty spots.

today is beautiful, so heading out to roll....

[tyshoes]

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my smooth streets + skatepark wheel is spitfire F4 classic 99a, and has been for years.
been hunting for a wheel that can handle crustier spots, but also not be too soft for the park.
mini logo 90a are almost too bouncy/grippy, to me they're not too different in feel than spitfire chargers 80a
the keyframe 87a are nice on rough spots, but still a bit too soft for the park.
currently on a set of ricta clouds 92a, these are getting me close to a great multi use wheel....
but.... i just got a set of the new mini logo 95a in the 52mm 'a cut' shape. and they are WHITE.
will report back after putting them thru some various scenarios.
fyi.... all wheels i ride, regardless of duro, are 52mm to 54mm.

[close]

95a.. that sounds tempting. please check back in later and tell us how they perform with noseslides and stuff

[close]

took these out a few times over the weekend. these are great on streets around the neighborhood. the roads + sidewalks are not too rough, but def not skatepark smooth. these 95s had enough softness to get around with ease but still slide, pop, flip, and feel and perform close to a 99a.

took them to the park and they were more grippy than 99s of course, but not too bad overall. had to make sure not to over rotate ollies and such on the quarterpipes + hips or i would stick. noseslides not a problem, i'm on indys, so may be a diff story on thunders.

they have treads as new, but think after they break in a bit more will get better slides, and they could make a great ATV wheel. will post pics after some more sessions.

[close]

sounds good, how's the white color? is it fake-plastic-y looking and is that going away with wear? interested in the 87 keyframe 92 cloud 95 mini logo differences

[close]

been pretty cold in the nyc area lately, but got a few rolls in. starting to break these in, feeling great around the neighborhood. still pretty white, but not fake plasticy looking or feeling. they're on an antihero 8.06 w/ indy stage VII, going to take off the 1/8" rubber riser since i had 54mm wheels on this prior.

as far as a true atv wheel, as others have said, not sure it exists. based on my initial feedback above from running these 95a at the park, will def stick with F4 99a classics for smooth parks. i guess this just means i have to run 2 set ups.... park board + street board. both set ups will have same deck width/length/WB specs, both w/ indys + bones bushings + bearings, only diff will be wheel duro. going to swap out the minilogo 95a to the ricta cloud 92a to see if i like those better for neighborhood streets + crusty spots.

today is beautiful, so heading out to roll....

I know what you mean. Im using the 92 a clouds and I keep them in my glovebox with some bearings for when pavement is rough. Its the only way.

[moonordie]

Apparently the shortage of F4 in my country is due because there is no longer a distributor in here for Spitfire. I'm interested in stepping in of course, trying to reach Spitfire like a man but no luck so far.
Anybody has some contact email?

[tyshoes]

Apparently the shortage of F4 in my country is due because there is no longer a distributor in here for Spitfire. I'm interested in stepping in of course, trying to reach Spitfire like a man but no luck so far.
Anybody has some contact email?

Cant you order off ebay and get international shipping?

[beatifk]

Apparently the shortage of F4 in my country is due because there is no longer a distributor in here for Spitfire. I'm interested in stepping in of course, trying to reach Spitfire like a man but no luck so far.
Anybody has some contact email?

Where do you live?

[moonordie]

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Apparently the shortage of F4 in my country is due because there is no longer a distributor in here for Spitfire. I'm interested in stepping in of course, trying to reach Spitfire like a man but no luck so far.
Anybody has some contact email?

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Where do you live?

Chile

[Whitedude]

Finally gonna retire my lock-ins anybody got any suggestions?

[ClownOfTheDay]

Finally gonna retire my lock-ins anybody got any suggestions?

Radials.